"Collection of 10 all-new romance stories to benefit Diabetes Research"
Sweet Talk Boxed Set
By: Violet Duke
Genres: Romance Anthology | Romance Contemporary
Posted: May 30, 2015
I got this boxed set specifically to read the short story by one of my favorite authors, Molly O'Keefe. She easily makes my hotly-contested list of top ten favorite authors. However, I am not of fan of her short story for this anthology, Christmas Eve: A Love Story. Lovers Trina and Dean are childhood friends who become intermittent lovers over many years. The story is rather depressing to me. O'Keefe normally has angst-laden tales that capture my interest and my heart, but this story simply feels too down to me, without the lovely pay-off of convincing true love to make me sigh happily at the end.
However, I did discover a new-to-me author in Rosalind James, who writes Just in Time. This story captivates me, and makes the whole boxed set worthwhile. JUST IN TIME features a hot and noble New Zealand rugby player, Will Tawera, who comes to the U.S. to be a kicker for an NFL in Las Vegas. He meets Faith Goodwin, the assistant to a fashion photographer for whom Will does some modeling photos. Will kicks up his heels a little and ends up modeling for some photos that are used for a fiction writing site, showing him looking dark, dangerous, and Maori. These risqué photos put Will in a great deal of hot water, and Faith travels to New Zealand to meet back up with him and be his pretend girlfriend, in order to preserve his reputation and his spot on the New Zealand All Blacks rugby field. To their mutual surprise, this pretend relationship leads to a real love, although they have a lot of complications to navigate on their way to their Happily Ever After. This is a sweet and touching romance with very likeable characters. Each character feels like the girl or the guy next door, and I rooted so hard for their navigation through all their misunderstandings and hardships. I'm thrilled to have read this box set just for this story alone, which makes it well worth the purchase price.
There is truly something for everyone in this boxed set. Interlude by Linda Lael Miller is a sweet and tame tale. Ask Me Again by Gina Maxwell has some lovely sexual antics, although the groveling at the end felt cut short to me. Jackson by Violet Good is a sports romance featuring sports network reporters and a wealth of feelings to be explored. There is a good mix of sexually explicit tales and sweet stories, with a romance to meet everyone's wishes. With eleven stories, several of which are full length books, this is a great and wide-ranging collection which supports a worthwhile cause. Why not use your purchasing power for social good while getting some great reading material?
Book Summary
In 2014, the boxed set curated by Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research (titled A SWEET LIFE), raised almost $100,000 net to the charity in only one month. This year we’re back for a second helping, and you can indulge, too! this heart-warming, limited edition collection features ten BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors...
You can make a difference while you read! All proceeds from the sale of SWEET TALK will be donated to the Diabetes Research Institute via Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.
Featuring a foreword by #1 NYT Bestselling Author Robyn Carr and a bonus story, the Brenda Novak classic, WHEN WE TOUCH, which kicks off her popular small-town contemporary Whiskey Creek series.
In this new tale, ONCE UPON A DREAM, from NYT bestselling author Melody Anne, Whitney Steele loses her sister in the blink of an eye and is caring for her niece and nephew, not knowing how she is going to get through the loss of the most important person in her life. Liam Felton loses his brother and never gets to say goodbye. Can these two people come together and mend what's been broken? Or will fate take them down a different road altogether?
When behind-the-scenes sports analyst Jackson Gray is assigned the task of teaching the ins and outs of college and pro football to the network’s newest on-camera beauty, sideline reporter Leila Hart, the last thing he expects is to become the one getting schooled—in lessons in love, that is—from a woman who clearly knows way more about sports than she lets on. JACKSON by NYT bestselling author Violet Duke.
From New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster comes a new, sweet and sexy wedding romance, PROMISE MY LOVE, the follow-up novella to DESTINED FOR LOVE (The Bradens).
From NYT bestselling author Gina L. Maxwell comes a story, ASK ME AGAIN, about a woman who returns to her hometown after her devastating breakup and finds herself drawn to an old friend who’s never stopped hoping for more.
From NYT bestselling author Linda Lael Miller we have a heart-pounding tale of unrequited love come to fruition in INTERLUDE, the story of a woman holding out for the man she’s never forgotten--the sexy cowboy she’s always loved.
#1 NYT bestselling author Sherryl Woods takes readers back to her beloved Chesapeake Shores for the story of a woman stuck in a dead-end job who discovers it's never too late for a whole new dream.
In the latest romance from NYT bestselling author Steena Holmes, Charlie Peters knew running away wasn’t the right thing to do, especially from her fiancé, but with her sister in the hospital, now seemed like the perfect time. And it wasn’t just him she was running away from, but the promise of the life they could have together. She wasn’t meant for happily-ever-afters, even though Marcus was her Prince Charming.
Rosalind James’s JUST IN TIME (ESCAPE TO NEW ZEALAND) brings you one bad boy of New Zealand rugby, one erotic modeling contract that doesn’t stay in Vegas, and one good woman to pick up the pieces.
Rita Award winning author Molly O'Keefe writes a heart-warming story of two friends who find love where they least expect it in A DATE FOR A CHRISTMAS WEDDING.
Join USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle in SAND DOLLAR COVE, where a determined shop owner faces the loss of her family’s business, and has the mayor making tough choices between what’s best for the town and what might win the heart of the woman he’s secretly loved from afar.
Don’t forget to check out SWEET DREAMS and SWEET SEDUCTION, two more limited edition collections from Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research, as well as LOVE THAT!, Brenda Novak's new cookbook with Jan Coad, and SAFE HAVEN, a special edition novel from Lauren Hawkeye... read and help the fight against diabetes!
by: Violet Duke
Smashwords
May 1, 2015
On Sale: May 1, 2015
Featuring:
ISBN: 0046471111
EAN: 2940046471113
Kindle: B00R5CZ4ZM
e-Book